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Title III — Removing barriers that isolate communities

S. 787 · 116th Congress · Mar 13, 2019 · Lineage

III Removing barriers that isolate communities

Sec. 301 Expanding rights under the Fair Housing Act

(a)
Purposes— The purposes of the amendments made under this section are—
(1)
to expand, as well as clarify, confirm, and create greater consistency in, the protections against discrimination on the basis of all covered characteristics; and
(2)
to provide guidance and notice to individuals, organizations, corporations, and agencies regarding their obligations under Federal law.
(b)
Amendments to the Fair Housing Act— The Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.) is amended—
(1)
in section 802 (42 U.S.C. 3602), by adding at the end the following:

“(p) Gender identity means the gender-related identity, appearance, or mannerisms or other gender-related characteristics of an individual, with or without regard to the individual’s designated sex at birth.

“(q) Marital status has the meaning given the term in section 202.2 of title 12, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation.

“(r) Sexual orientation means homosexuality, heterosexuality, or bisexuality.

“(s) Source of income includes income for which there is a reasonable expectation that the income will continue from—

“(1) a profession, occupation or job;

“(2) any government or private assistance, grant, loan or rental assistance program, including low-income housing assistance certificates and vouchers issued under the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.);

“(3) a gift, an inheritance, a pension, an annuity, alimony, child support, or other consideration or benefit; or

“(4) the sale or pledge of property or an interest in property.

“(t) Veteran status means—

“(1) a member of the uniformed services, as defined in section 101 of title 10, United States Code; or

“(2) a veteran, as defined in section 101 of title 38, United States Code.”

(2)
in section 804 (42 U.S.C. 3604)—
(A)
by inserting “actual or perceived” before “race, color” each place that term appears;
(B)
by inserting “sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, source of income, veteran status,” after “sex,” each place that term appears; and
(C)
in subsection (c)—
(i)
by inserting “(1)” before “To make”; and
(ii)
by adding at the end the following:

“(2) Nothing in this title shall be construed to—

“(A) prohibit a lender from implementing a loan program for veterans or based upon veteran status; or

“(B) prohibit an entity from providing housing assistance under section 8(o)(19) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(19)), the Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem program of the Department of Veterans Affairs, or any other Federal housing assistance program for veterans or based upon veterans status.”

(3)
in section 805 (42 U.S.C. 3605)—
(A)
by inserting “actual or perceived” before “race, color” each place that term appears; and
(B)
by inserting “sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, source of income, veteran status,” after “sex,” each place that term appears;
(4)
in section 806 (42 U.S.C. 3606)—
(A)
by inserting “actual or perceived” before “race, color”; and
(B)
by inserting “sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, source of income, veteran status,” after “sex,”; and
(5)
in section 807 (42 U.S.C. 3607), by adding at the end the following:

“(c) Nothing in this title limits the ability of the owner of a dwelling owner to determine, in a commercially reasonable and non-discriminatory manner, the ability of a person to afford to purchase or rent the dwelling.”

(c)
Prevention of intimidation— Section 901 of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3631) is amended—
(1)
by inserting “actual or perceived” before “race, color” each place that term appears; and
(2)
by inserting “sexual orientation (as defined in section 802), gender identity (as defined in section 802), marital status (as defined in section 802), source of income (as defined in section 802), veteran status (as defined in section 802),” after “sex,” each place that term appears.
(d)
Rule of construction— Nothing in the amendments made by this section shall be construed to mean that a particular class of individuals was not protected against discrimination under existing Federal law.

Sec. 302 Improving outcomes in housing assistance programs

(a)
Indian housing assistance— Section 502 of the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4181) is amended by adding at the end the following:

“(c) Applicability—Subsections (a) and (b) shall not apply with respect to tenant-based assistance provided under section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)).”

(b)
Supplemental administrative fee— Section 8(q)(2)(B) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(q)(2)(B)) is amended by inserting “, including the cost of assisting families with children or families with a member with a disability that move to lower poverty, higher opportunity neighborhoods (as determined by the Secretary based on objective, evidence-based criteria)” after “programs”.
(c)
Regional planning To increase access to higher opportunity areas— Section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

“(21) Increase access to higher opportunity areas

“(A) Location analysis

“(i) In general—A public housing agency that administers the program under this subsection in a metropolitan area shall—

“(I) analyze the locations where the participants of the program of the public housing agency live; and

“(II) based on the analysis described in subclause (I), establish policies and practices to reduce disparities and barriers to access to locations throughout the metropolitan area that evidence indicates are more likely to improve outcomes for children or adults.

“(ii) Considerations—The location analysis required under this subparagraph shall—

“(I) consider separately the locations of families with children, households that include a person with disabilities, and other groups protected under the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.); and

“(II) include an analysis of the locations in relation to dwelling units with rents that are potentially affordable to voucher holders and the likely impact of key neighborhood attributes on their well-being and long-term success, based on Federal and available local data.

“(iii) Mapping tools—The Secretary shall—

“(I) provide mapping tools and other information necessary for a public housing agency to perform the location analysis under this subparagraph using the demographic data on participating families submitted to the Secretary under part 908 of title 24, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation;

“(II) publish a notice in the Federal Register, subject to public comment, that specifies the data sources and definitions that will be incorporated in each mapping tool required under subclause (I); and

“(III) update the notice required under subclause (II) as needed based on changes in the availability of relevant data or evidence of neighborhood attributes likely to impact the well-being and long-term success of participants in the program under this subsection.

“(iv) Frequency and availability—The location analysis required under this subparagraph shall—

“(I) be performed by each public housing agency described in clause (i) not less frequently than once every 5 years;

“(II) be performed by all public housing agencies in a metropolitan area in the same year, as determined by the Secretary; and

“(III) be made available to the public in a manner that protects the privacy of program participants.

“(B) Regional policies to increase access to higher opportunity neighborhoods—Each public housing agency described in subparagraph (A)(i) shall—

“(i) consult with other such public housing agencies in the same metropolitan area, or smaller regional area approved by the Secretary, about the possible barriers and other reasons for the disparities identified in the location analysis required under subparagraph (A);

“(ii) identify policies or practices that those public housing agencies could adopt individually or in collaboration, or other strategies that recipients of grants or other funding from the Secretary could adopt, to reduce the barriers and disparities and increase the share of families with children and other demographic groups using vouchers in higher-opportunity neighborhoods in the metropolitan area or region; and

“(iii) include in the administrative plan required under section 982.54 of title 24, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation, the policies that the public housing agency has adopted under this paragraph.

“(C) Assessment—The Secretary shall include public housing agency performance in achieving the goal described in subparagraph (A)(i)(II) in the periodic assessment of agency performance in managing the program under this subsection required under part 985 of title 24, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation.”

(d)
Required regulatory changes to public housing agency consortia—
(1)
Definitions— In this subsection:
(A)
Moving to Work demonstration program— The term Moving to Work demonstration program means the program established under section 204 of the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1996 (Public Law 104–134; 110 Stat. 1321–281).
(B)
Public housing agency— The term public housing agency has the meaning given the term in section 3(b)(6) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)(6)).
(2)
Requirement— Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall establish policies and procedures that—
(A)
enable public housing agencies that elect to operate in consortia under section 13(a) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437k(a)), excluding public housing agencies participating in the Moving to Work demonstration program—
(i)
to consolidate their funding contracts for assistance provided under section 8(o) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)) into a single contract;
(ii)
to consolidate their funding contracts for assistance provided under subsections (d) and (e) of section 9 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1437g); or
(iii)
to exercise the consolidation options under each of clauses (i) and (ii); and
(B)
enable public housing agencies to form partial consortia under such section 13(a) (42 U.S.C. 1437k(a)) that consolidate the administration of certain aspects of their housing programs to increase access to higher-opportunity areas or for other purposes, subject to such requirements as the Secretary may establish.
(3)
Moving to Work agencies— Any flexibility or waiver applicable to the Moving to Work demonstration program shall not apply to any activities or funds administered through a partial consortia formed under paragraph (2)(B) by 1 or more public housing agencies participating in the Moving to Work demonstration program.